Well, that was a pretty unsatisfying end to the first season of HBO’s Lovecraft Country. And it’s a shame because when the series was working, it was easily the best thing on television this fall. However, the best elements of the season were the character-focused episodes; islands within the confusing and poorly explained mythology that allowed the show’s stellar cast (and great writing staff) the chance to dig deep into the core themes of the series: race, sexual orientation, violence, gender, the failures of parents and the anger of children. Which explains why “Full Circle” didn’t work for me.
If Misha Green wanted the season to climax with Christina’s ceremony to achieve immortality, well, the writing staff needed to do a hell of a lot more work to set this up as an actual season climax and not just a hazy plan without any real explanation behind it. Why did Christina decide she needed to achieve immortality? Because she prevented her father doing so? Because she felt slighted by everyone in the Order of the Ancient Dawn and wanted to take as much power as possible? And what did she plan to do once she achieved immortality? At no point in the season did the show address Christina’s motivations outside of wanting to get back at the men in her life who claimed she was less than because of her gender and get revenge for the killing of William. That’s literally it. Outside of that, she was an emotionless shell of a person who sought power for no real purpose.
What I wouldn’t have given for an episode exploring Christina’s motivations. A series set-up as a battle between good and evil is only as good as its villain, and while Christina existed in a morally gray space – we’ll get to her relationship with Ruby shortly – Green and her team missed a huge opportunity to take an episode and flesh out the character going up against the show’s heroes (that would be Tic and Leti – both of whom got episodes exploring their characters). And when you make Christina so essential to the most complete character arc within the season – that would be Ruby’s – you make the audience want to understand what makes her tick. I can’t help but feel cheated that we’ll never really know why Christina was so hellbent on her plan – and why she was willing to sacrifice Ruby, the one person she seemed to genuinely care about, to do so.
And let’s talk about Ruby. Boy, did the finale do her dirty. Out of every character, the only one to get a complete arc – meaning that she grew and changed in a clear and meaningful way over the course of the season (and not just in a single episode – this was an ongoing metamorphosis that was incredible to watch) – gets taken off the game board with little to no fanfare. Now, I get it – if they showed us Christina incapacitating Ruby then we wouldn’t be surprised (although, I suspect most folks saw this “twist” coming a mile away). But at least give us a flashback to the act itself. Did this impact Christina in any way? Did Ruby see it coming? Did either have genuine feelings for the other (I would wager yes on both sides, based on past actions)? This could have been the emotional key to Christina’s character we had been missing. After all, she did reinstate the protection spell on Leti to honor her promise to Ruby, so there had to be some feelings there. But my god, why do all of that work to craft such a complex and compelling character to eliminate* her off screen? I’ve spoken before of the Bury Your Gays trope (wherein queer characters are built up only to be killed as a key twist or emotional beat in the story of another, usually straight, character), and while this wasn’t exactly an instance of this ugly trope rearing its head, it’s about as darn close as you can get. I’m just so angry that Green opted to go this route without offering us a look at what actually went down. It was a short sighted move.
*I’m being careful not to say the show killed Ruby because we don’t know for sure that she’s dead. Christina’s potion requires that the victim be in a coma, which means that there’s still a chance Ruby will be alive and well in a second season. Also, who knows how Christina’s death will impact her past spell work. And, just to reiterate this, Wunmi Mosaku was so great as Ruby, I would watch an entire season of just Ruby reacting to the world around her. And I’d certainly watch a series centered around Mosaku in the future.
Now, as for the big battle itself, well, again, it was pretty anticlimactic. When all seemed lost, a deus ex machina arrived in the form of the tragically underdeveloped character of Ji-Ah – whose sole purpose was to show up at a key moment and “save” the day with a weird mystical means to prevent Christina from winning. It was . . . supremely disappointing. Again, when you rely on characters you’ve failed to adequately develop as key elements of a season climax, it all begins to feel a bit disappointing. If this is what we spent ten episodes waiting for, well, I would have just as soon ended things after Diana was saved from the curse. Sure, it’s great that the spell reversal means that magic and the powers that come with it have been removed from white hands (and the destruction they would have committed prevented), but I don’t find myself all that enthused at the prospect of a second season if the series hasn’t proven the ability to craft a complete season arc. That’s what troubles me the most about “Full Circle.”
At its best, Lovecraft Country allowed us to take some incredible trips to other universes, to see through eyes that might not have been our own, and to contemplate the raw racial wounds that continue to fester in America. But it was a season that was never able to fully grasp or explain the mythology that created the narrative spine of the story, and the writing fell short of giving us the finale the characters deserved. I might find my way back to the show if there is a second season and the focus is narrow enough to allow the time and space for mythology and character development to exist together, but the series has some good will to make up before I commit to that.
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